Alex Yoong has said motorsports is still expensive and needs to be made more accessible to Malaysians. In a report by NST, the former Formula 1 driver said bringing down the costs of competing in motorsports was important to ensure that Malaysia does not fall behind when compared to its Southeast Asian peers.
“On one hand, we have countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia where their motorsports [industry] is going up but then we have Malaysia, which has been stuck for the past 20 years,” said Yoong during the third round of the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS).
“I believe to bring the costs down, you need to have partners involved in the sport, you need sponsors. Racing teams need sponsors and racing series (organisers) both need sponsors. But to do so, the product (championships) needs to be good enough to warrant sponsorship. It (championships) needs to be packaged in a way that is easy for fans to understand, at the moment that is not the case,” he added.
Yoong also said Malaysia has some very good drivers that need to have their talent showcased. The 47-year-old is currently competing in the MSC, driving an almost stock Suzuki Swift which he also uses to train students of his driving academy, Axle Sports. “I am competing in MCS because I haven’t raced a car since 2018 and was starting to itch for some fun. But the main reason is actually to show people that you can still compete and win using a relatively slow car,” Yoong said.
“This is the same car we (Axle Sports) use to train our drivers; we call it the ‘school car’. It has leaky dampers but can still reel off two minute and 45 second laps (at Sepang) easily. We just want to show people that it is not all about the car. You have to learn to drive and then learn to race,” he continued, urging those who interested in taking up motorsports to learn the fundamentals using simulators, which are cheaper to get into, before moving on to the real thing.
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how much does tax collected from cars even super cars goes into malaysian motorsports scene? which can promote not only motorsports, but travel, fnb, fmcg industries. its time to rebuild our beloved country
Well just like you have said APs, Cronies comes first to feed then the rest can take the gravy juices if it is still available for you to taste if not then just Buzz off like a fly.
Tax money collected 100% will still be not enuff. And how to know whom to give it? Msia has so many talents but only a couple might make it far but we dont have crystal ball to predict who will it be. So there is high risk of wasting money giving to the wrong/poor talent.
TO be frank, even Alex Yoong’s “school car”, that suzuki swift is not affordable to many malaysians. To reel off 2:45 lap on a 1.6 car is amazing.
anyway, there is a few things that can be done
grassroot motorsport needs to be brought to the whole of malaysia, not just stuck in Sepang. something like the Vios challenge, bought all around malaysia, but using low cost cars, like Axia. Concentrate on getting young novice drivers (25years or younger) into the game. Car price cap of RM30K with claiming rules (means anyone have to sell their car for RM30k if other competitors requested) or from one builder only.
Look at ADAC VW Lupo Cup for inspiration.
For Rallying, do a Formula 1000 class, similar to those done in UK. For malaysia, it could mean all Perodua 1000cc cars like kelisa, viva, axia. Kancil with stock 1000cc kelisa engine, or other 1000cc cars like the Suzuki Alto.
Malaysia is lagging behind not just in motorsports but in any sports for that matter. And we even have a ministry of youth and sport! No strategy, no long-term plan at all. Football and badminton are a mess, lagi mau cakap motorsport? Local televisions don’t even bother to provide coverage for our local motorsports event.
Ini semue salah PH. Dulu ada PM yang mau buat race track mampu pakai di semue negri tapi dia sudah tumbang dan PH skarang tak mau merendahka ongkos utk berlumba. So ini memang salah PH.
Motorsport is always expensive, weak Malaysian ringgit and low national income make it worse, it’s like for a Zimbabwean, RM2 teh tarik is expensive for their average income. Lagging because there’s less interest in Malaysia, which makes the sport expensive too due to low demand. And there’s outdated JPJ rules & regulations and high car tax & duties that make it all worse.
Most Malaysian don’t care about Motorsport, they just want free food, jobs and handouts from the government and go to someplace after death.
Can definitely tell Malaysians are getting less and less about motorsports and actual sporty cars, just look at the kind of vehicles that most Malaysians are gravitating towards nowadays, tend to be something big, tall, bulky, clumsy and heavy.
Under them now we are really becoming the Zimbabwe of Asia as their godfather had predicted.
cancel AP non-sense, cut down import tax, cancel excise duty, remove petrol subsidy, everything will go smoothly.
Malaysia is lagging behind in everything, not just motorsports.
Jeff,u r damn correct. DO u know a VVIP gave a stupid holiday to all the Selangor hospitals,after the state elections?
Can u imagine the agony of orthopedic,urology,psychology new patients, told to come in 2-4 months time on that damn Monday due to his kemenangan by simple majority in state polls? It is lagging not only in sports but in state administration.How can we shut down a hospital( except the emergency ward)? It is pure madness by giving haphazard unplanned holidays at the spur of the moment.
What do you expect? What is the true average education level of our politicians regardless of the divide? And are people holding portfolios because they are acknowledged experts in that field or rejects from somewhere else? We get substandard policies because we are given substandard candidates to vote for (applies to all parties equally) because national priorities are in the longkang.
Motorsports is only for the well heeled in Malaysia.
We have so many motorbike heroes! Train them!
Nah bro…those heroes can only go fast in a straight line.
I think Malaysia has a better shot at MotoGP.
It is both cheaper, and we have lots of street talents.
Our politicians only know how to sell built up facilities to developers like in pasir gudang and batu tiga circuit and sungei besi airport.
Plus our car tax structure is prohibitive